


Flower of the Highest Peak

by bobachiizu



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Best Friends, Multi, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, hope you have fun, im so sorry i had to post this, trigger warning: mentions of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:00:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24150109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobachiizu/pseuds/bobachiizu
Summary: sometimes, life doesn't always have a happy ending like in stories.
Relationships: Settsu Banri/Tsukioka Tsumugi, Tachibana Izumi/Tsukioka Tsumugi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Flower of the Highest Peak

**Author's Note:**

> tqsm to my friend Chii, who helped me to beta! I love you tons!! <333

Banri was yet again lost in thought. It was about Tsumugi, always about Tsumugi when he's in this state.

Tsumugi always evoked feelings Banri never thought he'd have. 

He gave up all those years ago, thinking of himself as simply a man without the ability to love anyone romantically, at least until he met Tsumugi.

Tsumugi is a bright and cheery person. Always bringing light in each of his steps, wherever he's headed to.

He brings joys and smiles to others, like it was something completely natural. For him, the world probably looked as bright and as warm as the sunny spring skies. Banri doubted anything ever genuinely bothered him. He wonders if he would worry about which apron colour to choose when buying them, or if the soup he made was too salty to serve for his guests.

Banri chuckled at the thought, as it just fits Tsumugi so well, _too_ well.

To Banri, Tsumugi looks like everything he'll never reach, and yet everything which he yearns for. Everything he is is everything Banri will never be.

He doubts Tsumugi remembers the time he spent like he does, maybe never will like the way he does. Perhaps a fleeting memory in the corner of his brain, another person he's helped along the way. Banri remembered when they first met. How could he ever forget?

\--

It was snowing.

He was laying down by the sidewalk, all bloody and mangled. Hyodo's so-called "followers" had ganged up on him. Usually, he wouldn't have a problem with that, he would always beat their asses black and blue, make them scurry away like rats with classic villainous parting words, making himself laugh at how ridiculous and dumb they are.

But that day, it was different. First of all, they had called him out in an oddly civil manner. They waited outside of his school, and told him that they wanted to apologise for their past behaviours, and would do so by treating Banri out. He had laughed at first, he knew something was up, he's not an idiot, but he had perhaps overestimated himself.

He remembered going along with it, and telling them alright, let's meet up somewhere later. They gave him a location near the food district streets, but also close to the tight and dark alleyways. Banri was suspicious, but he didn't think much of it. They're idiot anyways, surely he'll beat them easy just like usual, right?

Wrong.

He was terribly wrong. He didn't expect them to have a taser gun. What the actual fuck.

He remembered him shouting cowards at them, even while being beaten up by them in the dark alleyway. He still spat on their faces while laughing maniacally, even though he was the one beaten until purple bruises bloomed.

Banri remembered he felt absolutely wasted, like the feeling he got from once drinking 3 whole bottles of his father's wine stash, but worse. 

By the end of it, he was completely wrecked. 

He couldn't feel any part of his body.

Each time he struggled against them even a little, they would tase him again and again, eliciting hisses from him. Banri wouldn't let them have the satisfaction of hearing him scream, which would compel their egos to float even higher. Even as he felt the tangy feel of iron in his mouth.

Instead, he would laugh at them everytime they kicked and hit him. He would giggle and smirk whenever they get frustrated and tase him more. He would spit out insults when they weren't kicking his lungs. Anything that would get under their skin, anything to stay above them.

In the end, he left them utterly exasperated and dissatisfied, just what he wanted. As they left him alone in the dark alley, they shouted insults at him hoping him to die alone there without any help.

Banri only wheezed out in response with a big grin on his face.

Hours had passed then, and Banri felt his consciousness fading, He did everything he could to not fall asleep and lower his body temperature. They had left him outside in the middle of winter, and took with them his favourite designer coat.

His breaths that hit the air turned white. The night has dawned later and later. They called him out when it was still evening at around 6 pm, and he'd reckon it's around midnight now. Maybe he should've brought his bag with him, he left his phone inside.

  
Just as his heavy eyelids betrayed him, he heard someone shouting. He saw the figure of someone rushing at him, but his vision was full of blood and swelling from bruises, he couldn't get a clear view of who it was. All he saw was a blur of dark blue hair and eyes that looked at him desperately.

  
When his eyes fully closed, the only thing he remembered was the soft sweet scent of flowers.

\--

Banri fiddled with his phone. He stared at Tsumugi's number, fingers hovering over the dial button.

He does this at least ten times a day, and each time, he was never able to actually ring the icon. It stood still, not stirring in the slightest. 

  
Today too, he was unable to do it.

  
He stuffed the mobile back in his pockets and lowered his hoodie. His focus shifting back to what he was looking at in the first place.

Tsumugi is here today, with her, in their flower shop.

The way they look at each other, the soft giggles and soft head ruffles, looking at them feels terrible. Maybe even more terrible than the situation in which Tsumugi save him from, from when they first met. But still, he looks, stares, and observed their every move.

Even from across the street, the way their smiles gleam and the way her left ring shines is too bright in his eyes. Why is he doing this? 

  
Ah. Right.

  
He doesn't know.

  
Banri just feels this urge to watch them like this every Tuesdays and Fridays, when they would put up the cut flowers as bouquet arrangements in front of the store. When they can see them interacting the most without actually getting close to them.

He knows he's acting like such a creep, but he really can't help it. He can't come any closer to them, or that would mean he has to interact with them or look like an absolute weirdo who would always keep his head down.

The worst part is that he knows they would greet him with their blinding smile, without an ounce of suspicion. They would probably ask if he's feeling bad, and would help him in a heartbeat if he said yes.

That's just the kind of people Tsumugi and Izumi are.

\--

The morning after he got beat up, Banri remembered waking up in an unfamiliar room. The bed was harder than the one he had, and the ceiling looked too bright to be his room's.

He groaned, and immediately, a pair of concerned blue eyes were on him.

Banri jolted in surprise, and he could feel his bruises contract right away, he hissed in pain.

The man in front of him quickly apologised and checked Banri's body to see if there were any open wounds because of that. Banri then noticed that he was bandaged neatly and smelled distinctly of fabric softener.

He glanced down at what he was wearing, his battered uniform he was in last was changed into a comfortable sweatshirt and jogging pants, both loose enough to not press on his wounds but just enough room to feel breathable. It also showed years of wear, if it was him he would've thrown it away years ago.

Banri looked up again, and the man is still looking at him worriedly. Was this the one who helped him from that alley? He moved his mouth to speak, maybe to thank him, but the cuts on his lips sting and all that came from his throat was a scratchy and hoarse-sounding wheeze.

He touched his neck. Is his voice gone from shouting too much last night? Or from being beaten up for hours? Probably both.

The man looked at him in worry again and introduced himself.   
"My name's Tsumugi, and what's yours?" he smiled while doing so, the corner of his eyes crinkled, and Banri nodded.

He pointed at his own throat and signaled Tsumugi that he can't talk. 

  
"Ah! I'm so sorry!" he apologised, as if on reflex, and Banri watched as he hurried outside the room, "Wait a second please!" he heard Tsumugi's muffled voice in the distance.

While he was gone, Banri examined his wounds. He had a few bandages wrapped around his head, torso, and legs, on his arms some scratch marks bleeding wounds covered in bandages. Somewhat, he recalled when they shouted at him about "sparing his arms because they're such nice people"

Banri scoffed and folded his palms into a stiff fist. He felt the sting in his upper arm but he ignored it, his rage at those guys channelled to his enclosed fists. The sting he felt that time was probably from his nails digging into the insides of his palm.

He was snapped back to reality when he felt a pair of soft hands trying to pry his fists open.

Tsumugi was there, back from whatever he was doing, and absolutely failing in trying to get Banri to open his fists.

"What are you doing?!" Banri flinched a little from his voice and released his palms slowly. Tsumugi hurriedly went to check on the small gash Banri has made in his palms to tend to it as swiftly as possible.

Banri stared in absolute silence as Tsumugi tended to his wounds. Why is a stranger going all the way to treat him? What does he get out of this?

Tsumugi huffed in satisfaction when he finished.

"Don't do anything to hurt yourself again okay? I won't even ask why you're there all bloodied in that alley nobody passes by. You're lucky I was on my daily rounds!"

Banri only nodded weakly in response, no energy left in him to argue with Tsumugi, nor does he have the voice to.

The bright smile Tsumugi gave him then was probably the start of it all.

\--

He trailed after the couple as they went into the big building, stalk would probably be a better word, as they had no idea that he was following them.

Banri waited the whole day outside the building in a nearby cafe as they went out of the building, six hours later, the smiles on their faces again too bright for him, they looked so happy and carefree. 

Sometimes, he wished to crush those smiles, to take Tsumugi for himself alone, to make his body, mind and soul his alone, to lock him somewhere nobody will ever find him, to-

He stood up abruptly, smashing his cup into the floor. The customer next to him shouted in surprise, a small yell that elicited attention from the rest of the cafe patrons. Banri gave the small woman a stare and then proceeded to slap a bill on to the table before rushing outside the cafe, ignoring the waitress's calls.

"Keep the change!" he shouted before stalking off.

He can't stay there any longer, not with Tsumugi within his sights, he can't withstand these wants, these dirty desires that reside deep within him. Deep down, he knows he shouldn't, he knows Izumi would make him happy, he knows he shouldn't mess with their happiness.

They're good people, unlike him. She deserves his smile, not him. Never him.

  
He remembered the time when he got a text from him last week, with a few missed calls before it, and when he read it, he felt as if a piece of his heart crumbled then.

Banri had reread the text he got from him over and over and over. Countless of times. He wonders why he does this to himself. He should let him go. Let them go.

Let them be happy.

Without him, not with him.

  
He ran until he found an alley, and ran inside it, sliding down the dingy walls of the tall buildings.

He turned on his phone, and yet again opens the email that Tsumugi had sent him a week prior.

> _"hey banri-kun, i havent heard from you in a whiles.. is everything alright?..._
> 
> _you know ytou can come to me if youre in any problem, although i dont knpw if i can do anything to help, i will still try my best, you know that right? dont hesitate._
> 
> _im emailimg you today to tell ypu that we will hold our wedding nect week!!! qnd i would be more than ecstativ if ypu would be one of my best man, youre always really mature for your age, so i wouldnt ask of thid to any other college student other than u haha_
> 
> _please tell me A.S.A.P. if youre wiling!! (izumi said that means as soon as possible and this is my frist time trying it)_
> 
> _we would be more than happy to habe you in our wedding!_
> 
>   
>  _from, tsumugi"_

Banri chuckled. He loved his stupid texts. He loved the way he always has typos, and how stubborn he was when he told Banri he doesn't want any of this "autocorrect" business. He loved his stubbornness, and the way he pouted, the way his eyebrows furrowed when Banri laughed at him and called him an old man. Banri loved the smile Tsumugi gave him after, laughing along with him to his cluelessness in technology.

He recalls the time when Tsumugi taught him how to cut flower stems and how to arrange them, how cool and cute he looked when he did that, Banri almost drooled. He remembers snapping out of his daze, and the proud look on Tsumugi's face when he finished his bouquet.

Banri had laughed and challenged him to a mock battle, Tsumugi offered a handicap because it would be Banri's first time at trying to bundle a bouquet, but of course, he's Banri after all, he doesn't need any handicap.

His first try was... decent.

_"Guess I can't win against experience!"_

He remembered sighing exasperatedly then, he overestimated himself yet again. Tsumugi laughed at him and patted his back. He remembered the warmth of his hands on his back.

_"I told you! Well with practise, I think you'll be better than me in no time though!"_

They joked around and had fun. It went for about a year, the simple fun they had together, that is, until Tsumugi met Izumi.

  
He said it was love at first sight.

  
Banri didn't quite understand what he felt back then was love. He thought the sting he felt in his heart was from the loneliness that the one he actually liked was going to be with someone else more than him.

He remembered congratulating him when Tsumugi's confession got accepted. Gave him tips and pieces of advice when Tsumugi came to him for date tricks. Each time Banri got asked by Tsumugi about what Izumi would like, he felt his heart drop lower each time.

By the time he realises it was love, it was too late.

Tsumugi had just told him he proposed to Izumi and would have their wedding in 6 months. Banri congratulated him then, slapped his back and hugged him tight to hide his misty eyes.

Since then, he had avoided Tsumugi. At first, it was simple things like how college work had piled and he needs to catch up, or how his relatives needed help with babysitting so he can't go to Tsumugi's.

But then he cut contact completely. Being around him became too painful, thought were always circling in his head. The feeling he got when he saw them together hurt too much. He couldn't handle it.   
He ran away.

Originally, when Banri went off radar, Tsumugi contacted him almost everyday. But looking at how he texted feels painful, so he turned off his phone.

Now that he sees the call log again, Tsumugi still tries to call him at least once a day. But he still wouldn't open them. The stack of voicemails lied in his inbox, and he opens a few of them sometimes to do... things he's not proud of.

He loathes himself.

But today, that will all finally end.

Banri had already sent a big order on his Tsumugi's flower shop, to congratulate him on his wedding, and to help his store financially. He had ordered the best caterers to trade with what the couple chose with what he chose instead, made them pick his choice of venue for the cheapest price, paid mostly by Banri, and even sent a dozen pieces of jewellery in his name for Izumi for their big day.

His role as a "best friend" is now over. He finally found the solution to conclude all of it.

Banri had stored a timed email in his sent box. It will send perfectly by the time his wedding is over, they have discussed the itinerary together, he knows all of the details and tidbit.

As he looked at the horizon below him, from atop the tall mountain, he saw a flower on an even higher ground than where he is.

He unbuckles his mountain climbing gear, his hook, helmet, even his boots, his supplies bag, everything except his clothes.

He started to climb with his naked hands and feet toward the flower, it reminded him so much of Tsumugi, and at least before it all ends, he wants to see something that reminds him of Tsumugi.  
When he reached the flower, he picked it in the softest way possible. Tsumugi always lectured him on how to pick flowers carefully to not break it, it was drilled inside his head.

Just as he was about to smell what would probably be his last flower ever, the wall stones underneath his feet crumbled. He gripped unto the flower tightly instead of the wall of stones that held his life.

Banri thought the feeling of falling is akin to when your heart stops, he'd love that, he'd love for it to stop beating for someone he can't have.

The flower still gripped tightly in his hands, the idea that this would be what Tsumugi would remember whenever he and Izumi have their anniversary made him smile.

**"I guess I'll always be fucked up."**

**Author's Note:**

> hi !!! hope you have fun reading this,,, I didn't have fun writing it 😢  
> the goddamn rollercoaster I was at while writing this... I appreciate constructive criticisms and anything in the comments sections!
> 
> (pls talk to me hahah)
> 
> friend me on twt! @tarochiizu


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